10 Times Doctor Who Appeared Where You'd Least Expect

5. In The Sarah Silverman Program (With Christopher Eccleston As The Doctor)

Doctor Who Matt Smith Sherlock Benedict Cumberbatch WhoLock
Paramount Media Networks

We've covered Doctor Who's many, many appearances in other TV shows before (check it out here in article or video form), but here's a rather bizarre and unexpected one we didn't get around to mentioning.

In a 2008 episode of the largely forgotten comedy show The Sarah Silverman Program, nerdy character Brian buys a DVD boxset of a sci-fi show called Dr. Lazer Rage, vowing to watch it a ridiculous amount of times in order to get the maximum value for his money.

Why is this noteworthy? Well, Dr. Lazer Rage is a clear homage to Doctor Who, with plenty of corridors, low-budget effects, and even Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston playing the title role, firing off his blaster and delivering overly-dramatic speeches.

The Sarah Silverman Program Christopher Eccleston Dr. Lazer Rage
Paramount Media Networks

What made this cameo so surprising was that it came not too long after Eccleston had exited Doctor Who under controversial circumstances. It's no secret that he wasn't too thrilled with his time on the show, so the fact that he'd reference his Doctor Who days in such a direct way was quite strange to see.

Given that Dr. Lazer Rage is a parody, perhaps he meant it as something of a middle finger? In behind-the-scenes material, he even quips "no CGI on this shoot", a thinly-veiled jab at Doctor Who's green screen-heavy production environment.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.